Ellerson Group Inc. ADV Lowers Stock Position in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Ellerson Group Inc. ADV reduced its position in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 59,628 shares of the company’s stock after selling 545 shares during the quarter. Kraft Heinz makes up about 1.9% of Ellerson Group Inc. ADV’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Ellerson Group Inc. ADV’s holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $2,205,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 0.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,215,597 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,362,053,000 after acquiring an additional 417,115 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 10.7% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 24,601,098 shares of the company’s stock worth $827,581,000 after buying an additional 2,369,080 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its position in Kraft Heinz by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 12,580,726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $423,216,000 after acquiring an additional 850,326 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management increased its stake in Kraft Heinz by 27.1% in the third quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 9,263,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $311,621,000 after purchasing an additional 1,977,571 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Kraft Heinz by 3.7% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,120,015 shares of the company’s stock worth $306,797,000 after purchasing an additional 324,450 shares in the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on KHC. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Kraft Heinz in a report on Thursday, February 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $43.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Kraft Heinz from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.00.

Kraft Heinz Stock Down 1.0 %

NASDAQ:KHC traded down $0.37 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $36.35. The company had a trading volume of 7,102,855 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,314,267. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $36.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 12-month low of $30.68 and a 12-month high of $41.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.87, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.65.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $6.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.43 billion. Kraft Heinz had a net margin of 10.62% and a return on equity of 7.41%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.68 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 6th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.40%. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.87%.

Kraft Heinz Company Profile

The Kraft Heinz Company, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and markets food and beverage products in North America and internationally. Its products include condiments and sauces, cheese and dairy products, meals, meats, refreshment beverages, coffee, and other grocery products under the Kraft, Oscar Mayer, Heinz, Philadelphia, Lunchables, Velveeta, Ore-Ida, Maxwell House, Kool-Aid, Jell-O, Heinz, ABC, Master, Quero, Kraft, Golden Circle, Wattie's, Pudliszki, and Plasmon brands.